U.S. patent application number 10/464381 was filed with the patent office on 2003-12-18 for spring-loaded firearm safety indicator.
Invention is credited to Christiansen, Ned F..
Application Number | 20030230020 10/464381 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 29740158 |
Filed Date | 2003-12-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030230020 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Christiansen, Ned F. |
December 18, 2003 |
Spring-loaded firearm safety indicator
Abstract
The invention is a firearm safety indicator that is
spring-loaded, thus enabling self-ejection when a firearm's bolt is
actuated. To attain this, the indicator comprises a main body and
cantilever spring body joined together. A peg extends
perpendicularly from the main body. In use, the peg is positioned
inside the firing chamber of a firearm through the ejection port.
The main body covers the ejection port and the cantilever spring
body is therefore compressed to attain proper positioning. The
rifle's bolt is then used to engage and hold the peg in place. When
actuated, the bolt releases the peg and the spring body is
released, thrusting the indicator away from the firearm.
Alternately, a metal spring may be utilized in the place of the
cantilever spring body.
Inventors: |
Christiansen, Ned F.; (Three
Rivers, MI) |
Correspondence
Address: |
GEOFFREY E. DOBBIN, PATENT ATTORNEY
4278 SOUTH 6220 WEST
WEST VALLEY CITY
UT
84128-6501
US
|
Family ID: |
29740158 |
Appl. No.: |
10/464381 |
Filed: |
June 17, 2003 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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60389576 |
Jun 17, 2002 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
42/1.05 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F41A 17/44 20130101;
F41A 35/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
42/1.05 |
International
Class: |
F41A 009/53 |
Claims
I claim:
1. A firearm safety indicator for a prior art firearm having an
ejection port and a closely associated firing bolt comprising: a. a
rectilinear indicator body; b. a spring, and c. a peg member
extending in a generally perpendicular direction from an underside
of the main section; wherein, the indicator is slightly larger in
dimensions than a prior art ejection port and the spring stores
potential energy for self-ejection when the indicator is
installed.
2. The indicator of claim 1, further comprising a notch located on
the peg member, said notch disposed so as to interface with the
prior art bolt.
3. The indicator of claim 2, further comprising a second, long
indicator flag attachable to the indicator body and an attachment
means.
4. The indicator of claim 1, further comprising a second, long
indicator flag attachable to the indicator body and an attachment
means.
5. The indicator of claim 4, wherein the material from which the
indicator body is made is selected from the group of material
consisting of: plastic, nylon, resin, metal, or wood.
6. The indicator of claim 3, wherein the material from which the
indicator body is made is selected from the group of material
consisting of: plastic, nylon, resin, metal, or wood.
7. The indicator of claim 2, wherein the material from which the
indicator body is made is selected from the group of material
consisting of plastic, nylon, resin, metal, or wood.
8. The indicator of claim 1, wherein the material from which the
indicator body is made is selected from the group of material
consisting of: plastic, nylon, resin, metal, or wood.
9. The indicator of claim 1, the spring comprising a spring member
attached to the underside of the main body.
10. The indicator of claim 9, further comprising a notch located on
the peg member, said notch disposed so as to interface with the
prior art bolt.
11. The indicator of claim 10, further comprising a second, long
indicator flag attachable to the indicator body and an attachment
means.
12. The indicator of claim 9, further comprising a second, long
indicator flag attachable to the indicator body and an attachment
means.
13. The indicator of claim 12, wherein the material from which the
indicator body is made is selected from the group of material
consisting of: plastic, nylon, resin, metal, or wood.
14. The indicator of claim 11, wherein the material from which the
indicator body is made is selected from the group of material
consisting of plastic, nylon, resin, metal, or wood.
15. The indicator of claim 10, wherein the material from which the
indicator body is made is selected from the group of material
consisting of plastic, nylon, resin, metal, or wood.
16. The indicator of claim 9, wherein the material from which the
indicator body is made is selected from the group of material
consisting of: plastic, nylon, resin, metal, or wood.
17. A firearm safety indicator for a prior art firearm having an
ejection port and a closely associated firing bolt comprising: a. a
main indicator body further comprising: i. a juncture section; ii.
a rectilinear cover body extending from the juncture section; and
iii. a rectilinear spring body extending from the juncture section
in a direction generally parallel to and in the same direction as
the cover body, except that the spring body is simultaneously
disposed in a downwards curve as distance from the juncture section
is increased; and b. a peg member, extending downwards from the
cover body in a perpendicular direction from a point on the main
body opposite the juncture section; wherein, the main indicator
body is generally rectilinear and is slightly larger in dimensions
than the prior art ejection port and the spring body stores
potential energy for self-ejection when the indicator is
installed.
18. The indicator of claim 17, further comprising a notch located
on the peg member, said notch disposed so as to interface with the
prior art bolt.
19. The indicator of claim 18, further comprising a second, long
indicator flag attachable to the indicator body and an attachment
means.
20. The indicator of claim 17, further comprising a second, long
indicator flag attachable to the indicator body and an attachment
means.
21. The indicator of claim 20, wherein the material from which the
indicator is made is selected from the group of material consisting
of: plastic, nylon, resin, metal, or wood.
22. The indicator of claim 19, wherein the material from which the
indicator is made is selected from the group of material consisting
of: plastic, nylon, resin, metal, or wood.
23. The indicator of claim 18, wherein the material from which the
indicator is made is selected from the group of material consisting
of: plastic, nylon, resin, metal, or wood.
24. The indicator of claim 17, wherein the material from which the
indicator is made is selected from the group of material consisting
of: plastic, nylon, resin, metal, or wood.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This Application claims priority based on Provisional
Application No. 60/389,576, filed Jun. 17, 2002.
FIELD OF INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to a firearm safety indicator
for revealing a rifle's unloaded status to a casual viewer and more
specifically relates to such an indicator that is spring-loaded so
that the action of charging a weapon automatically releases the
indicator.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The need for safety indicators for firearms arises from the
need of police officers and military personnel to have a loaded
weapon on their person while simultaneously having that weapon in
some form of "safe" configuration (i.e. no round of ammunition in
the chamber). The interest of safety requires that a weapon's
status be both real and known at a glance. As such, the indicators
used in the past have in some way blocked the chamber or otherwise
arrested the rifle's bolt and extended outside the weapon, either
through the chamber ejection port or through the barrel, or some
other orifice in the weapon. The interest of readiness requires
that the state of safety be changed at a moment's notice.
Therefore, the safety device must be quickly removed. Some devices
have been designed with rapid removal in mind. Earlier such
"instant" safety devices had to be removed physically relied on the
weight and balance of the device and gravity, or the weapon's
ejection mechanism to remove the device from the chamber. Earlier
devices have not been spring-loaded, much less being spring-loaded
inherently in their construction. The present invention is
spring-loaded in its construction, and therefore departs from the
usual manner and construction of other such safety devices. Prior
art safety devices include U.S. Pat. No. 5,311,691 (1994) to Cacek;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,097,613 (1992) to Miller, et al.; and U.S. Pat. No.
4,965,952 (1990) to Miller, et al. As additional benefits of the
present invention, the indicator may be constructed of a
fluorescent plastic to better enable location and analysis of a
shooting scene. The spring according to the present invention is
uniform from indicator to indicator and can be readily converted
into analysis information to locate where a weapon was initially
charged. Also, the indicator according to the present invention,
like prior art indicators, prevents a round of ammunition from
being in the chamber when the indicator would otherwise be
simultaneously installed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known
types of firearm safety devices, this invention provides an
improved, firearm safety indicator device. As such, the present
invention's general purpose is to provide a new and improved
firearm safety device that will automatically self-eject from the
chamber when the weapon's bolt is actuated and not utilize the
weapon's ejection mechanism.
[0005] To attain the goal of self-ejection, the safety device
generally comprises a rectilinear indicator body that is sufficient
in size to cover a weapon's ejection port. In the preferred
embodiment, the body is almost completely divided lengthwise into
two sections, leaving both a split end and a juncture of the two
sections. The spring section bends slightly away from the main body
section, forming a cantilever spring. A peg extends outwardly from
the main body at the split end in the direction of the spring
section's bend. In use, the peg is inserted towards the forward
area of the firearm's chamber and the bolt is closed upon the peg.
During this process, the spring section is compressed flush with
the main body section and stores potential energy for
self-ejection. When the bolt of the firearm is actuated, so as to
load a cartridge into the chamber, the safety device is released
and the spring section returns to its normal position, thrusting
the device away from the weapon.
[0006] The more important features of the invention have thus been
outlined in order that the more detailed description that follows
may be better understood and in order that the present contribution
to the art may better be appreciated. Additional features of the
invention will be described hereinafter and will form the subject
matter of the claims that follow.
[0007] The primary object of the present invention is to provide a
self-ejecting firearm safety indicator; however, other objects of
this invention will appear from the following description and
appended claims, reference being made to the accompanying drawings
forming a part of this specification wherein like reference
characters designate corresponding parts in the several views.
[0008] Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention
in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited
in its application to the details of construction and the
arrangements of the components set forth in the following
description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is
capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out
in various ways. Also it is to be understood that the phraseology
and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description
and should not be regarded as limiting.
[0009] As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the
conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be
utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods
and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present
invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded
as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not
depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a firearm (AR-15 family)
with the present invention installed.
[0011] FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the invention.
[0012] FIG. 3 is a top perspective view of the invention.
[0013] FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-section of the rifle of FIG. 1 at
the point where the bolt and indicator interface.
[0014] FIG. 5 is a horizontal cross-section of the rifle of FIG. 1
taken along the length of the barrel at the chamber ejection
port.
[0015] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the invention with an
additional long flag.
[0016] FIG. 7 is a semi-exploded view of the invention utilizing a
metal spring.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0017] With reference now to the drawings, the preferred embodiment
of the safety indicator is herein described. With reference to FIG.
1, the indicator 10 is inserted in the rifle's 2 ejection port,
directly over the magazine well 6 and behind the barrel 8.
[0018] Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, the construction of the
indicator 10 is relatively simple. A rectilinear body is almost
dissected into two parts, a main body 12 and a spring body 14. An
indicator flag 20 extends perpendicularly from a point on the
rectilinear body that has not been divided. Flag 20 defines the top
of the indicator body. Spring body 14 is bent downwards. The
resultant curved cantilever spring provides thrust necessary for
self-ejection. Peg 16 also extends downwards, starting from a point
opposite the indicator flag 20 on the main body 12. A notch 18 is
positioned in peg 16, facing back towards the rest of the
indicator's main body 12. The length of notch 18 is dependent on
the length necessary to capture bolt lip 46 (FIG. 5) when spring
body 14 is compressed against the weapon. This length will vary
depending on caliber and type of weapon.
[0019] The interface with the rifle is better shown in FIGS. 4 and
5, where peg 16 is inserted into the chamber 42 through the
ejection port 44 and interfaces with bolt 40 with notch 18. As
shown in FIG. 5, notch 18 catches the lip 46 of bolt 40. Bolt 40
then holds indicator 10 in place. Spring body 14 is therefore
compressed, flush against the body of rifle 2. When the bolt 40 is
actuated, in preparation for firing, peg 16 is released, thus
releasing spring body 14 and thrusting indicator 10 away from the
weapon.
[0020] In a number of instances, a weapon may be stowed in a manner
that the ejection port is hidden from view. An example would be
storing a weapon in a roof rack in a vehicle. For this purpose,
shown in FIG. 6, a long indicator flag 24 may be attached to the
main body 10 at hole 22 by using screw 26. In so doing, long
indicator flag 24 will extend around the weapon to a position in
view. Any means to attach the long indicator flag 24 may be used,
including adhesive.
[0021] In an alternative embodiment, shown in FIG. 7, a separate
spring member 70 is affixed to the underside of a unified main body
72. The spring member 70, therefore, replaces the spring body.
Ideally, spring member 70 is a coiled spring mostly encased in
housing 74 about axel 76. Washer 78 is screwed into axel 76 so as
to retain spring body 70. However, any construction of housing 70
and washer 78 assembly that retains spring member 70 may be
utilized.
[0022] The preferred embodiment, utilizing the main body 10 and
spring body 12, may be molded from a single-staged mold or
otherwise fashioned in a single step, thereby making the alternate
embodiment, using the spring member 60, relatively cost
prohibitive. The indicator according to this invention may be made
for any type of firearm in current use, provided the firearm has
some form of ejection port and a firing bolt, regardless of size or
caliber.
[0023] Although the present invention has been described with
reference to preferred embodiments, numerous modifications and
variations can be made and still the result will come within the
scope of the invention. No limitation with respect to the specific
embodiments disclosed herein is intended or should be inferred.
* * * * *